Kiss It Better
by CheekyBrunette
Summary: Another story in which Kurt and Blaine take care of Nick and Jeff. Sort of a sequel to "Tuck Me In", but if you haven't read it, no worries.


**Okay, this is inspired by "Tuck Me In" as MOMMY/DADDY KLAINE IS JUST SO CUTE! And I basically figured that out by forcing them to tuck Niff in every night in that story, so why not branch out a bit?**

**Also, Simon the teddy bear? That's sort of a head cannon for me now. So excuse me as I write him into every freaking story he fits. (It's like Albert the Elephant if any BTR followers are reading this... Doubt it, but I figured I'd mention it. I love boys and their plushies!)**

It only took five minutes of watching Nick and Jeff to realize three very important things about the boys. First, they were absolutely devious and impish, rotten, little pranksters to the core. They were always doing something they shouldn't be with big smiles on their faces, like "Yeah, we know we're being naughty. Whatchya gonna do about it?" Second, even though they were known to be ill-behaved nuisances, they still managed to get away with murder. Both boys had a pair of puppy dog eyes unmatched even by _actual_ puppies. All they had to do was both whip 'em out to get themselves out of trouble. And third, they were probably the most poorly functioning teenagers to ever grace Dalton Academy. Despite having each other, Nick and Jeff needed assistance to get them through their days.

It only took five minutes of watching Kurt and Blaine to realize that they would always be the ones there to help.

* * *

Nick had never been that great of a dancer. If he was being honest with _you_, he'd probably say that he sucked at it. However, if he was being honest with _himself_, he'd most likely be forced to admit that he always got a powerful feeling that Susan Boyle was spitting at him from across the globe whenever he tried to pick up the new steps for practice. Thank goodness Jeff was not only the choreographer of the Warblers, but also his ever-patient and loving boyfriend. Without his help, Nick would probably be falling into all of the other guys on every beat.

Of course, just because he practiced before rehearsal, that didn't mean he wasn't prone to his trips and falls. There was only so much Jeff could do for him in advance.

It had been a particularly rainy Tuesday when it happened. Jeff and Thad were at the front of the room, sweating through their white button-downs as they taught the struggling Warblers the steps to "Downtown Girl" by Hot Chelle Rae (cause they did "Uptown Girl" and it's not like the Warblers were ones to exclude anybody). The tricky thing with song, is that they were all supposed to perform on furniture. Nick had trouble dancing on the floor, let alone a table top, so he chose the head council's desk at the front of the common room, doing his best to keep up with the rest of the guys despite sucking at this dance more than all others.

All of a sudden, his feet stopped working beneath him and he was looking up at the ceiling. There was a second of confusion as he squinted up at the ceiling tiles, wondering since when he had been able to defy gravity like this and walk on the walls, until he realized that he was lying on the floor and that -_crap_- did something in his arm hurt! "Guys?" he wailed, unable to stop from crying out immediately after. He couldn't move his wrist.

"Nickpea!" came a shriek that was unmistakably Jeff's, and Nick felt him at his side for a second -not having to look because he knew exactly what Jeff's presence felt like- before he was pushed out of the way. Nick rolled over a bit, wincing at the slight movement it caused his wrist, to see Kurt. Well, that was all well and good, but where was- Oh, wait, there was Jeff's hand on his ankle. Right, then. Everyone accounted for._  
_

"Just hold tight, sweetie. It looks like you fell on your arm funny," Kurt told him, and Nick could see the panic in his eyes. What was wrong? It wasn't unusual for Kurt to freak out over him like this, Kurt was basically his mom as Nick didn't really have one anymore, but normally Kurt got near spastic whenever he injured himself. Now he seemed scarily calm. Maybe he was just getting used to it? Nick got hurt a lot... At least, that's what Nick was thinking until he felt something warm and thick start to seep through his Dalton-issued sweater. Shoot. He knew that feeling.

"Compound break?" he asked, his voice hoarse as the full force of the pain in his arm caught up with him. Kurt nodded and reached to brush Nick's bangs away from his face, as Nick twisted around to watch Was phone for an ambulance with a stressy looking Blaine getting too close to the older boy's face in order to hear both sides of the call. Nick snickered. He was more Kurt's baby, as Jeff was more Blaine's, but that didn't stop the curly-haired soloist from doting over him like a worried parent, too.

"It'll be okay, hon," Kurt told him, pulling his torso into his lap. Nick was grateful that Kurt managed to avoid moving his arm too much. And, suddenly, wrapped up in Kurt's arms while Jeff planted a kiss to his nose, Nick didn't even feel the pain in his arm. Where would he be without Kurt?

* * *

The problem with being best friends is that there isn't any secrets. It wasn't uncommon knowledge that Jeff new everything about Nick -even how many different types of sleeping pills he had used despite Nick never talking about his insomnia- and Nick knew everything about Jeff -including where he hid all car keys last year, which was pretty annoying considering David had never gotten his back and had to go to a locksmith.

Of course, that meant they knew all of each other's weaknesses, too.

Kurt and Blaine watched as what started off as a harmless, friendly argument morphed into something ugly and hurtful. They didn't exactly know how it had started, they just knew how it ended: by Jeff saying something opinionated that Nick didn't like, thus earning him a particularly lengthy and cutting string of insults all from Nick's mouth.

It took a year of watching Nick and Jeff very closely to understand two very important things about the boys. First, Nick -when provoked- couldn't help but unleash a wicked temper that seemed to cloud around him for days. When he let himself go off on a rant, he would always regret it and take on more guilt than he should for saying the things he did, but it didn't happen very quickly, allowing things to escalate. Second, Jeff was not the kind of person that could handle even the lightest of criticism. He was an irritatingly cheerful person until he was given reason to doubt himself, and then it would be a miracle if you saw him for the rest of the week.

Jeff's jaw trembled for a second in response to Nick's words before he quickly darted out of the room. With a split second glance at Kurt, Blaine rushed out after the blonde, chasing after him until Jeff seemed to reach his destination -an abandoned girls' bathroom on the second floor. He didn't go in after him, though. No, Blaine was too experienced for that. Jeff needed a moment to compose himself, and he also needed his best friend. And when Nick wasn't a valid option, the situation called for drastic measures. Measures that resulted in Blaine sprinting up to Nick and Jeff's room only to stuff a teddy bear named Simon into his messenger bag before hurtling back downstairs. He burst into the bathroom Jeff had chosen, panting and holding the plushie out in front of him.

"Hug from me or Simon first?" he asked, a genuine question. Jeff looked torn, tears leaking a bit quicker down his face due to his own indecision. He eventually just shook his head, giving up, but Blaine had experience with this, too. He pressed the bear into Jeff's chest, and as the blonde moved to hug it, Blaine brought his spare arm up around Jeff's shoulders. There. Now Jeff had both. "Do we need to talk about how Nick didn't mean it? Or do you just wanna talk about what's going on in your head?" Blaine asked after a minute, his shirt starting to get too damp to hold anymore tears, but luckily Jeff was starting to slow down.

"I'm _so stupid_," Jeff sobbed in response, and Blaine threw his other arm around the thinner boy. Crap, he was still just _so skinny_. Simon remained squashed between the two boys, and Jeff rubbed his nose in the bear's already matted hair. Blaine would throw it in the wash before he went to bed.

"No, you're not, Jeffie. You know that Nick doesn't mean that. He just gets defensive, remember? He just gets scared, and he doesn't mean it, and it's definitely not okay for you to have those things said to you, but you have to understand that it's not real, Jeff. They were low blows, but they're not real. You're perfect, and smart, and this is a stupid thing to have to convince you of cause, hey, you're _my_ Jeff, right? I picked you, right? Just like Nick. He's scared like you are, Jeff, 'member? It's all fine." Blaine gasped for a breath, and Jeff scrubbed at his eyes with Simon's ear before promptly sticking the fuzzy, grimy appendage into his mouth, chewing on it absently.

It pained Blaine to see his baby like this. For all of Dalton's pluses, you really did have to go through hell to get there. Jeff always seemed to revert into a five-year-old when upset, but Blaine was glad it was that versus how Jeff used to cope. Blaine could handle wittle Jeff. He was easy. Blaine put a comforting hand on the top of Jeff's head. It was weird how the blond was taller, but Blaine still felt so much bigger than him, especially when he was slouched over like this. "Sowwy," he said around a slobbery teddy bear ear, and Blaine waved him off, pulling him into a hug long enough to last until Jeff was ready to leave.

* * *

Kurt had watched Blaine chase after Jeff and was now sitting at Nick's side. The other boy was leaning up against the wall, seated on the floor, and absolutely fuming. Whenever Kurt watched Nick's face get this red and angry, his eyes would play tricks on him so it looks as though steam was coming out of his ears. They sat in silence until Kurt decided that his temper tantrum was at least cooled down enough for Kurt to speak to the boy. "You know Jeff would never hurt you. You don't have to be threatened by him."

"I'm not," Nick grunted, staring intensely at the ground and playing with the toes of his sneakers. Kurt just tutted, waiting for Nick to talk to him. Whenever the younger boy got into moods like this, it was best just to let him make all the conclusions. Because Nick didn't like being read when he was angry. It violated him, and Kurt knew him well enough to know that he had to respect that, even if it made potentially short conversations incredibly long. Eventually, Nick heaved a huge sigh. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm normally so together with everyone, but whenever I flip, it's practically always on Jeff, and he's, like, the one person who shouldn't ever be yelled at or insulted. And the worst part is that I should probably be the one comforting him right now, but I'm still to angry to do anything about it." Kurt hummed.

"You're angry?" Kurt asked, testing the waters. Nick punched him in the arm, albeit lightly, and looked back down at the ground.

"Or scared," he replied, but Kurt wanted more.

"And...?" he pressed, and Nick sighed, knowing just what Kurt wanted. They had this conversation once every other month.

"And I definitely shouldn't be scared of Jeff because he loves me back unlike all the people I can and should be scared of," he filled in, and Kurt crossed his arms, arching an eyebrow in wait. It was obvious Nick was pissed, but Kurt couldn't let him off the hook for this. He had said some pretty awful stuff to Jeff.

"And...?"

"And I should apologize now, even if I'm still angry."

"Bingo."

* * *

Kurt sighed as Wes awarded Trent the solo for Regionals. The sassy Warbler would nail it for sure, but this had been Jeff's ninth time trying out and Nick's sixth. They were undoubtedly going to have some disappointed little boys on their hands. Blaine punched him in the knee. Right. Keep positive. Besides, it wasn't like he hadn't been warned before hand. Wes and David had taken their roll as "grandparents" seriously and had told them their decision prior to practice so Klaine could figure out what to do with their depressed little boys. Nick and Jeff hung their heads in shame as they left practice that day, but Kurt and Blaine quickly caught up with them. Kurt cleared his throat, linking arms with Nick as Blaine did the same with Jeff.

"So I was thinking we could go to the zoo..." (1)

* * *

Simon the teddy bear had been through a lot in his life. He had been there for Jeff every time he needed an ear to chew, a belly to cry in, or someone who wouldn't judge. He had been dutifully doing his job for fifteen years now -Jeff was young for a sophomore- and it was starting to show. Blaine had managed to revive him a bit, a few trips through the washer fluffing his fur and cleaning it to an extent, but Simon wasn't the same bear as he was in six-month-old Jeff's crib. He was thinner, coarser, and sometimes it seemed as though it would only take a slight breeze to separate his thread's.

Blaine was worried that Jeff would notice. He was pretty certain that the day Simon died was the day Jeff did, too. It's not as if the blonde took the bear everywhere he went, but he did manage to sleep with it every night. The stuffie comforted him when he was upset, and Blaine didn't know where he'd be without it's help. Jeff could be pretty inconsolable... He didn't even want to think about what would happen if the bear fell apart in the boy's hands...

Blaine was sitting up in his dorm, trying to be as quiet as possible. Kurt was napping in his bed behind him -drooling, but don't ever mention it- while Blaine struggled silently through his math homework. Just as he figured out how to go about solving a particularly difficult problem, a scream echoed out through the dormitory. It took less than a second for Blaine to be out of his chair and headed to Nick and Jeff's room next door.

Those who have roomed at an all boys school could tell you that screaming wasn't an uncommon thing. In fact, it was a constant thing. But taking responsibility of Jeff Sterling and Nick Duval with Kurt had left Blaine with some mad skills. He knew that scream; it was Jeff's. And it wasn't a happy one. In less than five seconds, he was barging into Niff's room. "What's wrong?"

Except, Blaine didn't need to ask because there was Jeff: standing in the center of the room with Simon's arm in his hand but no bear body to be seen.

"I don't know what happened!" Jeff squeaked, holding the arm far out in front of him like it was a snake and Blaine was the wrangler. He looks shocked and distraught, and Blaine didn't know what to do. His heart started racing. He rushed over and took the arm out of Jeff's hands, swooping down to pluck Simon off the floor. He held both parts of the plushie loosely in his hands. Crap, what now? Blaine bit his lip under Jeff's hopeful -and maybe a bit desperate- stare. Oh gosh. He had an arm in one hand in a body in the other. That's not how bodies were supposed to work. _What now, what now, what now? _

_"Kurt!"_ he settled on, and he heard a thud from his bedroom next door as Kurt presumably startled himself off of his bed. His rather grumpy looking boyfriend toddled into the room, scrubbing at his eyes furiously. "What could you possibly-" he started before seeing the torn bear in Blaine's hands. Kurt finished his sentence with a sigh and snatched the two parts to the stuffie away from him, staggering sleepily back to his room. Blaine and Jeff followed anxiously, watching as the fashion expert pulled out a substantial sewing kit out from under his bed. There was the comparing of thread against fur before the sewing began. Blaine shifted nervously as Kurt worked, probably more nervous than Jeff was despite the solo track of a tear under one of the blonde's eyes. When had that happened...?

Eventually, Kurt looked up from his work and tossed a healed Simon over to Jeff who flailed to catch him. Blaine practically melted in relief. "Thank you, Kurt!" they both said in unison as soon as they were able to breathe again, but Kurt was already asleep...

**(1) If you want to read Niff in the zoo, may I direct you to "Maybe That's the Thing". For more Mommy/Daddy Klaine to Niff, try "Tuck Me In". *shameless self-promotion*. **

**Next one of these, I am going to start getting angsty... I mean, I think they're gradually getting more angsty, right? So eventually, it's just gonna be... Angst-tastic. Yeah. Like, you'll know what I mean when you read about JUST what Niff's pasts are like.**


End file.
